"Of course this is absolutely shocking that the Prime Minister of Hungary will decide to ask every Hungarian citizen in a very biased manner…so you're asking your citizens about their take on immigration and terrorism; the only fact of asking and linking the two terminologies of course you're inducing a number of reactions from the citizens."

Hungarian authorities have a duty to combat xenophobia and discrimination, the UN spokesperson said, and employ principled migration policies.

Meanwhile, the UN rights office said that Prime Minister Orban's call for a debate on a reintroduction of the death penalty was a potential "terrible setback" in the global fight against the use of capital punishment.